FILE PHOTO: Britain's Secretary of State for Exiting the European Union David Davis arrives in Downing Street in London, January 16, 2018. REUTERS/Hannah McKay

LONDON (Reuters) - Britain will not seek to harmonise its regulations with the European Union after leaving the bloc, but will aim instead for “outcome equivalence”, Brexit minister David Davis said on Wednesday.

“There’s undoubtedly an impetus among some continental countries and on the part of the Commission to try to trade off regulatory freedom against market access,” Davis told a parliamentary committee.

“Our strategy for dealing with that is to say we will seek outcome equivalence in some areas, but not harmonisation - otherwise if you have harmonisation you might just as well have stayed in.”